I didn't get a thank you!!

Krak,

I know you.

I know you did your best, and I know that was good enough. I'm sorry for the kid who didn't get into the last game, but I know you did your best for these boys all season.

Good job, coach! And Thank You!

Julie

Well said Mom!

And Krak...if that e-mail was scathing enough it may be suitable for framing!

.

For what it is worth......been on both ends, many times...regardless, I always send my boy's coaches thank you cards/email's...coaching is hard, stressful, often thankless work...particulary in an age where team is a four letter word....

For what it's worth, thanks Krak...conference chamionship team...the kids played all season...I am sure that that one player got his share of PT...

Thanks!

44
.

Thank you!

(now don't you feel better).

Sounds to me like you went above and beyond. If the kid wasn't hitting and made lots of errors I don't think in the championship game it would be fair to all the other kids (who MAY have been harder workers or had better attitudes???) to put the game on the line. Most parents understand that when it gets down to post season play (all-stars, hs play-offs etc.) you play to win.

Hang in there. And thanks for doing your best.

Krak:
I'd sure love to read that email! Post it here!

Amazing - not that the dad sent you a nastygram - but that you actually got every kid into every game this year save one? And still get shouted at?

I hope you are paid well

My son like 44's always gave the coach a thankyou card. It is part of growing up and realizing what volunteers do for youth BB.

A coach has to do what he has to do in big games to win---if that means a kid or two don't get in it is just the way it is--it is not LL, it is HS--

Krak

Don't let it bother you

I've written the thank-you notes yesterday---and just stuck stamps on the envelopes a minute ago--to my daughter's coaches....

Krak--post it! And congrats on your first season! Sounds like it was quite the year. Thank you for taking that group of boys and making them into a team.

I would be more upset with a coach who didn't do what he had to do to win the big games even if it meant my son sitting. You have to earn your PT in some important games.

When it comes to the big games, playoffs etc. its your responsibility to put forth your best. the fact that you got every player in every game is amazing. there are kids who sat the majority of the year on my sons team.It is HS the better players play.We had a senior strong team this year, some of the juniors did not play, but they experienced winning the league, they are getting to be at playoffs, theyre getting to be part of something really good. And hopefully they can come back next year and repeat a winning season.As a HS coach you can never make everyone happy. You have always sounded like a great coach to me in your posts. Dont worry, the dad is just taking his frustration out on you.

What really made it extra harsh is that he wrote that his son is as good as anyone else on the team, then made a direct attack on my two sons who are on the team. This player was deliberated over by all three coaches at spring cuts and was the last kid taken. He makes errors, then doesn't hustle after them. He didn't know he had to tag up on fly balls. He would frequently vanish as soon as practice was over to avoid carrying gear to my van. He would also be near the end of the warm-up run line, and often turned back as the leaders passed him after touching the line -- well before reaching the line himself. When we had a bake sale, he stayed exactly one hour then bolted while all the other players hung around as a team for many hours even though they'd met their one-hour commitment. He was also a kid who, whenever we tried to correct or instruct him, would say, "I know, I know."

All other players on the field yesterday were more deserving, and skill-wise much more apt to do what needed to be done to try and win that championship.

There are no excuses needed for your actions---you did what your were supposed to do as the head coach---stop beating yourself up

Here's the positive side. You probably gave the kid more playing time than he desereved over the course of the season. That's being a good guy.

I am prone to being a self-beater-upper. It's my main character flaw!

Parents like that don't realize that their behavior is not going to help, especially when the player's presence on the team was borderline to begin with.

I anticipate another lawsuit. (Maybe that should be my new signature.)

"This was the ONLY game all season (out of 20) that I didn't manage to get EVERY player into the game"

Is the object to make sure you get everybody in the game or win the game? I need an answer

"I had nowhere to play one player who has not hit well and has made quite a few errors this season."

seems like a no brainer to me. so what do you do get him in the game for the sake of getting him in the game? you work all year to get to this point and you make a decision based on getting a kid into a game? now if the score is lopsided either way then you do it but with the game on the line you do what you have to do to give your team the best chance to win.

Is that old fashioned? As one who has been around a long time am I missing something here?

quote:

I did my best

That says it all!

Quote from Popeye:

"I is disgustipated."

That's the trouble with emails. You can write things in anger, and without having to think, hit a button and it's gone. Hopefully that parent regrets being a blowhard now that the heat is down. He isn't the first parent to remember only the good things his kid has done and forget the errors...

Maybe a summation of the season stats is in order. Printed and available for all to see.

quote:

Get home to find a scathing e-mail review of my coaching from the dad.

Has this become the norm rather than the exception? How many times on this forum have we heard about the phone calls or letters now the e mail? what does this say about the environment that coaches have to work?

quote:

Originally posted by quillgirl:
Quote from Popeye:

"I is disgustipated."

quillgirl, That's good! We need more Popeye quotes.




I might have to disagree with your suggestion of posting stats in this case. I'm sure this parent would challenge all those Es and batting stats. You would be opening a can of spinach worms.